OSMC 1.0 Pi 2 recently started noticing hard drive lag

So as the title implies I just recently started noticing HDD lag on my Pi 2 (2A Power HDD powering from usb port with config.txt entry max_usb_current=1) with 1.0 build. I don’t know if this has any bearing on the problem but I switched up my wi-fi dongle to an EW-78811Un Edimax last week. I was using a dongle provided in my first Pi kit before which just had 802.11n printed on it. I think it might have been a Ralink chipset. It could’ve been Realtek. I don’t remember. Anyway after setting up the dongle under Network I set it to the DHCP option to use a static IP and everything was fine up until a few days ago.

So now the matter at hand is when accessing my HDD it will sometimes get stuck loading a video then pop up with the One or More Items window. Videos will freeze then speed up to get to whatever scene is playing or just exit to the list of videos. I notice the color square blinking in the corner beforehand and when this happens I hear my HDD start to tick. There was two different occasions where I had added some movies to my HDD plugged it back in and then plugged in the Pi and when it was done loading up the window for plugging in an external device popped up. And just today when I got home and booted it up HDD wasn’t listed so I rebooted and there it was.

The HDD in question is a 1 TB Toshiba Canvio 3.0 it was previously used by a friend who gifted it to me and it is quite filled with movies and music now. I checked how many gigs were free the other day and I have 18gb left. I don’t know if the mass of files is causing it to lag or if it’s the new wi-fi dongle sapping more power than my old one. I’ve had this same set up running smoothly for quite a while now up until my recent change.

Use a powered hub for the WiFi and HDD and your problems will likely be solved. The blinking rainbow square is alerting you that your power supply is insufficient.

Eh…anybody got any other suggestions? Anyone else using an Edimax dongle with a HDD on a Pi and noticed these symptoms?

Well, ActionA’s suggestion is correct.
If the HDD requires 2A then that is too much (1.2A is the limit with max_usb_current=1) and so you need a powered USB hub (or some other way of powering the drive).

Possibly the HDD doesn’t typically use 2A, which is why you got away with it in the past, but it sounds like the new wifi adapter is using more power which has pushed it over the edge. In either case I wouldn’t be happy - a combination of HDD spinning up and writing data may just occur at the wrong time and corrupt the disk.

A lower powered wifi adapter and/or an improved power supply could help, but I wouldn’t trust it. Get a powered USB hub that can handle 2A is the right solution.

I never said my HDD needed 2A. My power supply for the Pi is 2A. I’m only following what I read on the Raspberry Pi blog when the B+ came out and we had the option of adding HDD w/o USB hub. As far as I know that still applies to the Pi 2 correct? 2A power supply to run an HDD?? I mean isn’t 2A the same as the official Pi power supply?

Cutting the usb hub out of the equation was the whole reason I upgraded to a B+ that and two extra usb ports to run A FREAKING HDD! I don’t miss all the crap hooked up and the tangle of wires. Same reason why I bought the Pi 2 was for higher ram and better ARM processor. Simple solution guess I’ll just go back to my old wi-fi dongle.

The Pi 2 can power an external drive from a USB port if you have a good power adaptor and use max_usb_current=1.

“Can” does not however mean that all external drives can be powered from the Pi 2 (the power demands from model to model of drive vary greatly) nor does it mean that it can necessarily power it at the same time as another power hungry device, such as some wifi adaptors.

On an original Pi B you had no chance of doing what you are trying to do, on a B+ or Pi 2 you have a fairly good chance of it working but it is not guarenteed.